Deeply personal reason why Chris Smith refused to host 2GB nights

After 19 years with 2GB, Chris Smith officially hung up the headphones yesterday and now The Daily Telegraph can reveal the real reason why the radio host refused to swap shifts with Steve Price.

• Chris Smith’s $500K payout as he leaves 2GB
• 2GB duo under scrutiny for Chris Smith mishandling

Ousted talkback host Chris Smith was given no choice but to leave 2GB because the new night shift demanded by bosses meant he would not be able to meet legal obligations to pick up his teenage children for the weekend.

Smith flew out of Sydney today on a prearranged trip with his daughter, Ashley, after yesterday agreeing to walk away from the station with a $500,000 payout.

The talkback star was said to be “distraught” after Macquarie Media bosses told him they wanted to move him from the lunchtime slot he had consistently won in the ratings for almost two decades onto Steve Price’s night shift.

Former 2GB host Chris Smith with son Morgan and daughter Ashley. Source: Instagram/chrissmithradio

Smith with wife Susie Burrell and twins Henry and Aengus last week. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

RELATED NEWS

Smith: ‘I’m in discussions about future’

Dear Chris Smith, this is where you went wrong

Smith: ‘I pray that 2GB can help me’

Now it can be revealed that the real reason for Smith’s distress was that under the agreement of his divorce he needed to be free to pick up Ashley and his son Morgan from school and be with them at night.

“He was put in an impossible position — everyone at the station knows what court commitments he has and how he has his children frequently. It was a big ask to try and change that,” a station insider told The Daily Telegraph.

Smith, who also has twin boys in preschool, hired lawyers to deal with Macquarie Media’s management team and pushed for a resolution before the planned trip which includes taking 100 2GB listeners on a cruise from New York to Europe.

Smith with ex-wife Ally in the early 2000s.

After agreeing to pay out the 18 months remaining on Smith’s $300,000 a year contract Macquarie Media chief executive Adam Lang sent out an email saying: “Smith will attend a pre-planned overseas trip for three weeks commencing tomorrow and following the trip, Chris will leave 2GB on 31 July 2019.”

A relieved Smith jetted out for New York this morning and tweeted from the plane “in the air … bon voyage.

He thanked his listeners and said “The Network too has been very understanding. I’d like to thank them for 19 great years. I’ve just joined 100 listeners on our Transatlantic trip with overexcited daughter Ashley … Next stop NYC!”

The whole clan … Smith with son Morgan, daughter Ashley and twin sons Henry and Aengus. Source: Instagram/chrissmithradio

Smith was thanked on-air today by hosts Erin Molan and Natalie Peters who are filling in on the afternoon timeslot for the next two weeks during the radio ratings break.

“We wish him all the best for whatever the next adventure holds,” Molan said.

“He was a much loved colleague at 2GB and we’ll miss him.”

Macquarie Media bosses pushed to move Smith after new owners at Nine Entertainment insisted they end drawn out contract negotiations with breakfast host Alan Jones and re-sign him for $8 million for another two years.

Morgan and Ashley with their dad in 2015. Picture: Richard Dobson

Unfortunately they were so certain that Jones was gone they had offered his breakfast slot to Ray Hadley and told Price he could move off nights into Hadley’s morning spot.

Hadley kept the $1.7 million pay rise and agreed to wait until 78-year-old Jones retires in two years’ time but Price is understood to have agitated for change. “Smith was just collateral damage,” a 2GB insider said.

Morgan’s voice was heard in school zone warnings during Smith’s show on 2GB.

Ally Smith and Chris Smith with their children.

Desperate to claw back some savings the Macquarie Media bosses pushed for Smith to move so they could also run his show in Melbourne and axe popular 3AW host Denis Walter.

Smith’s loyal listeners have promised to pull the plug on the station now that he has gone. Supportive messages on Twitter yesterday included one which said: “You’ve been dudded mate. Anyways enjoy the trip and al the best.”

Seven News sports presenter Jim Wilson wrote: “Enjoy Smithy and nothing like an exciting new chapter — good luck.”

Originally published as Deeply personal reason why Chris Smith refused to host 2GB nights